On one episode of Family Ties, we see Alex playing poker with his friends, apparently a regular custom of theirs. After everyone else is gone, Alex’ best friend, an eccentric, dorky sort of fellow, tells Alex he’s getting married. Alex, who is so conservative he wants nothing to change ever, freaks out in a typically Alex way, tries to talk him out of it, tries to get his other poker buddies to sign a contract, etc., etc.
Not a bad ep. What struck a jarring note with me that this “best friend” Alex was so broken up about losing was never on the show before – AFAICR, and I used to watch it pretty regularly. I realize we can envision the lives of sitcom characters as having hitherto offscreen aspects, but still . . .
Have you ever seen this before? When a character is suddenly cut from a show for no apparent reason and his/her absence is never after remarked upon, that’s called the Chuck Cunningham Syndrome. When a new character is introduced and everyone acts as if he/she has been there all along – what do you call that?
If they show up for one episode and are killed/come out of the closet/drink or drug to excess, never to be heard from or mentioned again, it’s a variant of the Very Special Episode. If they show up and and stick around, may I suggest “The Dawn Summers Effect”?
